49 Fun Facts About Nomadland

Fern tells a girl she once tutored that she isn't homeless, just what?

Houseless is the word Fern chooses, and she lives by it: offered a roof more than once in the film, she goes back to her van each time.

What nickname does Fern give the vehicle she lives in?

Vanguard is the white Ford van Fern buys after selling most of what she owns, and she sleeps, cooks and washes up in it for the rest of the film.

Nomadland is based on a nonfiction book by which journalist?

Jessica Bruder grew the book out of her 2014 Harper's cover story, 'The End of Retirement', then spent about three years following nomads around the country to report it.

In which Nevada town does Fern lose her job when the plant closes?

Empire is a real company town: its ZIP code was scrapped within months of the plant closing, but a new mining firm bought the site and began moving workers back in 2016.

What did the plant in Fern's company town produce?

Gypsum for sheetrock: when demand fell, the plant shut in January 2011, and by that summer the company town around it had been emptied.

Where does Fern take a seasonal job through the winter?

An Amazon fulfillment center opened its doors to the crew after McDormand wrote to a senior executive, so the scenes were shot inside a working warehouse.

Who organises the desert rendezvous in Arizona that Fern attends?

Bob Wells plays himself: the real van-dwelling guru founded the gathering, and his talks to the newcomers in the film were largely improvised.

Which nomad chastises Fern for being unprepared when her tyre blows?

Swankie scolds her for travelling without a spare, then teaches her how to look after herself on the road, and the two become friends.

What does the nomad with a cancer diagnosis plan instead of a hospital stay?

Make good memories on the road: she tells Fern that kayak trips past moose, pelicans and a cliff full of nesting swallows have already given her a good life.

At which national park does Fern work as a camp host?

Badlands National Park in South Dakota let the crew film a working campground, where McDormand took reservations and cleaned the toilets as Fern.

Which South Dakota tourist stop do Fern and Dave take restaurant jobs at?

Wall Drug stayed open while the crew filmed, so McDormand worked among real customers who often did not recognise her.

What illness lands Dave in hospital?

Diverticulitis, an inflamed intestine, means emergency surgery for Dave; Fern goes to the hospital to see him, and soon afterwards the two take jobs together.

Which actor plays Fern's suitor in Nomadland?

David Strathairn was almost the only professional actor around McDormand: nearly everyone else on screen is a real nomad playing a version of themselves.

Where does Fern go to borrow money when her van breaks down?

Her sister's home in California brings Fern both the loan and an invitation to stay, which she turns down; her sister still calls her brave for living as she does.

Where does Dave settle when he leaves the road in Nomadland?

Point Arena, California sits on the Pacific coast, and after only a few days there Fern slips away and drives on to the ocean.

In Nomadland, what do the nomads say instead of a final goodbye, as Bob tells Fern?

See you down the road: Bob says he has never had to say a final goodbye in his years as a nomad, because sooner or later he meets people again.

What does Fern clear out when she returns to her abandoned town in Nomadland?

Her storage unit holds what she kept from her married life; she lets it go, then walks through the empty plant and the house she shared with her husband before driving off.

Which earlier Zhao film convinced McDormand to approach her?

The Rider stunned McDormand at a 2017 festival screening; as the credits rolled she asked aloud who Chloé Zhao was, and the two met six months later.

What kind of off-grid home does Linda May dream of building in Nomadland?

An Earthship is the dream she is saving for: the real Linda May, the central figure of the book, took low-wage seasonal jobs to pay for land to build one.

The author of the Nomadland book named her research camper after which rock band?

Van Halen: she called the secondhand van Halen and lived in it for months so that she could report alongside the people she was writing about.

Which Marvel film was Zhao preparing while making Nomadland?

Eternals overlapped the shoot: Marvel's Kevin Feige recalled Zhao leaving costume and creature-design meetings to drive her van out to the Dakotas.

Which festival gave Nomadland its world premiere and its Golden Lion?

Venice went ahead in person during the pandemic, but Zhao and McDormand could not travel, so they accepted the prize remotely from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Nomadland was the first film to win the top prize at both the Golden Lion festival and which other?

Toronto's top honour is the audience-voted People's Choice Award, which Zhao accepted in a video message of thanks to filmgoers.

On which streaming service did Nomadland debut in the US the same day it reached theatres?

Hulu is owned by Disney, as is the film's distributor, and the pandemic turned a planned December 2020 cinema release into a same-day launch on 19 February 2021.

Which studio distributed Nomadland?

Searchlight Pictures was still called Fox Searchlight when it signed the film; new owner Disney then dropped 'Fox' from the name to avoid confusion with the Fox Corporation it had not bought.

Why did Nomadland lose its planned cinema release in China?

Zhao's old remarks about China, including a 2013 interview calling it a place 'where there are lies everywhere', resurfaced online soon after state media had hailed her Golden Globe win.

Which composer's existing music was used as Nomadland's score?

Ludovico Einaudi was Zhao's find from an online search for classical music inspired by nature; she chose pieces he had written about his walks in the Alps.

Fern's old company town sits beside the desert that hosts which annual festival?

Burning Man is held each year in the neighbouring Black Rock Desert, a place the book's author already knew: her first book was a visual history of the festival.

Zhao's fourth Nomadland Oscar nomination was for which craft?

Editing joined her nominations for producing, directing and writing: she cut Nomadland herself, working on it at the same time as her Marvel film.

Zhao was the second woman to win the Best Director Oscar; who was the first?

Kathryn Bigelow won at the 2010 ceremony for The Hurt Locker, beating a field that included her former husband James Cameron, nominated for Avatar.

McDormand's Nomadland wins made her the first person to take Oscars in which two capacities for one film?

Producer and performer: Michael Douglas had also won Oscars in both roles, but twelve years apart for different films, whereas hers came for one film on one night.

Nomadland won Best Picture at a 2021 Oscars ceremony staged mainly in which unusual venue?

Union Station, Los Angeles, a working rail terminal, became the main stage for the pandemic-era show, with the usual Dolby Theatre hosting only one award presentation.

Why did McDormand howl while accepting Best Picture for Nomadland?

To honour its late sound mixer, Michael 'Wolf' Snyder, who had died earlier that year, she dedicated the award 'to our Wolf' and howled; puzzled reporters only learned the reason afterwards.

In Nomadland, whose sonnet does Fern recite to a young drifter, having used it in her wedding vows?

William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?', is the one: Fern recites it from memory when the young man says he does not know any poems.

What family news persuades Dave to give up the nomad life in Nomadland?

A grandchild on the way: Dave's son tracks him down with the news, and it is Fern who urges the hesitant Dave to go and be a grandfather.

Which star alone has more Best Actress Oscars than McDormand's three?

Katharine Hepburn won four, the second after she had set her career aside for years to nurse Spencer Tracy, who died soon after they finished Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Where was Nomadland's director Chloé Zhao born?

Beijing was home until her teens, when she left for a British boarding school speaking little English, then lived alone in Los Angeles while finishing high school.

In which Arizona desert town do the nomads of Nomadland hold their winter gathering?

Quartzsite hosts the real Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, which had grown to about 10,000 people; the film re-creates the gathering near the town with real nomads.

Zhao was the first woman to win the Golden Lion since which American director in 2010?

Sofia Coppola won for Somewhere from a jury led by her former partner Quentin Tarantino, who denied charges of favouritism and said the vote had been unanimous.

Fern's plant in Nomadland closed after which economic downturn?

The Great Recession emptied Fern's town, and the book behind the film follows older Americans who took to vans and RVs in its aftermath to chase seasonal work.

Which friend and co-worker first invites Fern to the desert rendezvous in Arizona?

Linda May, her friend from work, talks up the gathering; Fern says no at first, then changes her mind once the cold sets in and jobs dry up.

Before Zhao, who was the only woman to win the Best Director Golden Globe?

Barbra Streisand won for Yentl in 1984 and waited 37 years for company: when Zhao won, she tweeted 'It's about time!'

How do the nomads pay tribute to their late friend at the gathering?

Tossing stones into the campfire answers a wish she had voiced earlier: a keen rock collector, she hoped friends would throw a rock on the fire to remember her.

In Nomadland, where does Swankie head for a final kayaking trip after parting from Fern?

Alaska is her character's last journey, but the real Swankie outlived the role: in 2021 she walked the Oscars red carpet beside Zhao.

At what kind of plant does Fern take a job just before her van breaks down?

Sugar beet processing was filmed at a real autumn harvest in Nebraska, where McDormand shovelled beets alongside the regular seasonal crew.

What personal loss does the gathering's organiser share with Fern near the end of Nomadland?

His son's suicide is a true story: the organiser plays himself, and he says he told Zhao about the loss only a few days before the scene was filmed.

In Nomadland, a co-worker shows Fern tattoos of lyrics by which English singer?

Morrissey's lines about home were inked on a real worker the crew met while casting, and the film-makers liked the theme enough to put them on screen.

In Nomadland, what everyday item serves as Fern's toilet on the road?

A five-gallon bucket is standard nomad kit, and McDormand tried one for real during a test night in the van in Zhao's driveway before the shoot.

Which Oscar-winning actress chaired the jury that gave Nomadland the Golden Lion?

Cate Blanchett's jury gave Zhao's film the top prize just a day after its premiere, at the first major film festival held in person since the pandemic began.